All the items in my Naked Bison shop are ‘re-made’ from clothes. Items come from various sources: it could be that they are no longer fashionable and have therefore been cast from the wardrobe; maybe they no longer fit or suit their original owner; or maybe they are just not wearable anymore, e.g. ripped, torn in ‘unpatchable’ places or, as was the case with a sweatshirt I had, came too close to a bottle of bleach! A lot of this stuff either ends up in a charity shop or in the bin – textiles really don’t need to go into the bin, there is so much that can still be done with it before it turns to dust.

At Naked Bison discarded items of clothing are up-cycled into a variety of fashion accessories. From twisted fabric necklaces, named simply Strip T after its origins; the latest trend in backpacks, in the form of the That’s a Moray bag; reversible tote bags called Ana; massive sling bags called Celia and the much loved Bison Bum bag. The latter is the most simple of all to make (the first prototype was cobbled together while watching a fairly dull FA Cup final), but can be embellished with all sort of things left lying around in the bottom of a wardrobe, be that a belt, old necklace, scarf, whatever takes your fancy. You can also stitch on beads or embroidered patches; despite being pretty nifty with a machine already, I had no clue about machine embroidery until I made these, now I know what that odd looking machine foot is for!

But what else can you do with old clothes? Well the most obvious thing people do with old clothes is make them into new clothes. My great-grandmother was an absolute whizz at making little dresses for me and my sister out of big dresses either my grandmother or mother no longer wore. She was a seamstress by trade but her ‘make do and mend’ skills were put to very good use during WWII, when it was apparently not unheard of for her to whip up a whole new suit from a couple of old ones. And if you have never seen Gone with the Wind (shame on you!), you’ll just have to imagine what can be done with a pair of green velvet curtains; I am pretty certain there’s a similar story in my family history too! The point is this though: despite being made from something that had already been worn, all these items were new, fresh, bright and unique. Who needs mainstream fashion when you can have that? Set your own trends …!

One of the things I have found though, is that with all the snipping, chopping and re-cycling, I am still left with an awful lot of scrap material. There are plenty of things you can do with those scraps too though. For example, torn up scraps make really good cushion fillers and all that tearing is a great stress reliever! Longer strips, especially those strong denim and/or cords ones left over from making a Bison Bum Bag, can be used as boot laces – just make sure you hem the strips and treat as you would ribbon so they don’t fray.

Scraps can also be sewn up to make bigger pieces of material that can be made into bags, cushions and other accessories, just as if you were doing so with a single piece. Alternatively sew blocks for traditional quilting – patchwork is of course just a traditional way of using up bits of left-over material. It doesn’t have to be all log cabin and twee, check out this page for something a little less conventional – you’d be surprised ..

So, in short, get experimenting! There are all sorts of things that can be done with material: re-shape, re-think, re-make new things and be fashion instead of following it. And if that fails, pin bits to canvas, burn it, melt it, paint it, call it art – play with those ideas. Just don’t throw those clothes away!

My initial reaction to that was to ask whether or not it was feasible to let those currently involved in Events 4 Youth to lead that conversion; otherwise, how could any enterprise developing from it, genuinely be led by young people? Besides, despite my best efforts, I am a long way off being a young person anymore!

There was however a board of trustees to convince, and whatever the charity, they are not always the easiest people to please, especially when it comes to letting young people take the reins. So that is where I came in, adding a little structure and experience; and in consultation with both trustees and young people we came up with a viable model. This is how we did it:

We took a fairly basic business model generation approach to the task in the first instance, getting those involved in Events 4 Youth to get creative in their thinking and ‘re-imagine’ the project with a new set of eyes. We then looked at how viable those models were in reality, by doing a little market research, which is always a daunting subject, as it can either scupper or bolster your ideas! Finally, as the task was to set up a social enterprise that engaged young people, we needed to find a way of effectively engaging young people and measuring the impact the enterprise would have on all those involved.

Breaking this approach down into five clear steps, we ensured there were ‘critical review points’ after certain stages, so stakeholders would not only be consulted but would need to give their thumbs up before we moved onto the next stage. In summary, those five steps looked like this:

Step 1 brought together the existing staff team with volunteers/young people in on ‘ideation’ session, where the existing model of service delivery was critically reviewed against a number of building blocks such as customer segments, key activities and social mission, vision and values. The aim was to come away with a couple of new model sketches for future social enterprise;

Step 2 took the findings from Step 1 and recommended three possible business models that would then need closer analysis through focussed market research. The aim of this step was not just to begin identifying where opportunities for the social enterprise might lie, at this point we also wanted to start looking at how outcomes and social impact will be measured throughout the new enterprise’s lifespan with regards to the young people engaged with it. This stage culminated in one of those ‘critical review points’, which simply involved a presentation to the board of trustees in the hope of a thumbs up on the recommendations (which thankfully we got!);

Step 3 was a market analysis completed entirely by the young people involved in Events 4 Youth, who expressed a keen interest in this work after the session at Step 1. My contribution at this stage involved the provision of questions and writing up the findings only. The aim was to look at potential pricing structures as well as revenue sources. We also wanted to look at customer satisfaction and this meant not only asking existing customers, but asking the very young people involved as volunteers about their experiences and expectations. This was a crucial stage in this piece of work and ensuring those already engaged in the project were involved so heavily at this stage proved invaluable;

Step 4 simply went into more detail, where we looked at the business model options proposed at Step 2 and taking all the information gained from Step 3 reviewed what each model could do and what its advantages/disadvantages were with regards to both its social and commercial mission, while also assessing which might be the most financially viable. At this stage we also presented an approach to engaging young people and measuring the impact the proposed model may have on their lives. This stage also culminated in a ‘critical review point’ where we asked the trustees to approve our recommendations so that we could put together a more robust plan of action for the chosen model in the final stage;

Step 5 followed that approval and involved the pulling together of all the work done so far into one single business plan that ended with an immediate action plan, so what needs to happen over the next six months, as well as a sketch for the next five years.

It is worth noting that this process started a good year before funding runs out and there is still another six months to go. This kind of development work takes time and there are still a number of actions to put in place to ensure the project does not have to close down later in the year. Planning is key, there is no point leaving it to the last minute if you want all stakeholders involved and most importantly engaged. We found the Step 1 session incredibly useful in that ‘involving’ and ‘engaging’ process and will look to do some similarly but more detailed sessions over the course of the immediate action plan.

If you would like to know more about the details or think something similar might be useful to your organisation, please contact me direct at beth@bonsaibison.com or look out for up-coming webinars via NCVYS channels.

Your new Strip-T necklace should arrive all nicely twisted up in its packaging – a bit like this:

If for some reason it has loosened up in the post (it shouldn’t, but you never know!), or if you want it a bit tighter, hold one tied end still while turning the other in the direction of the original twist – you’ll find your thumb doing most of the work, something like this:

So you have one long twisted cord and you could simply wear it like this:

Or if you want to draw the eye of the beholder down a little, knot one end like so:

Feeling a bit chilly? Then why not double it up instead and wear it short around the neck. The length of the cord will depend on how close the necklace is to the neck, but they are all made to fit over the head at least twice. Like so:

You can also loosen it up a bit for a wilder, slightly more casual look. To do this you just need to untwist the full length by holding one tied end and untwisting the other in the opposite direction than before. You don’t really need that picture again, do you? OK, here’s Ian again:

You can then essentially wear the necklace in exactly the same way as the above, it will just look a little more ‘untied’. Like so:

Or like so:

Your Bison Strip-T is made from strips of t-shirt material and can therefore be washed just the same as any coloured cotton jersey. If you find the strips ‘flatten’ a little, then just give them a bit of a pull and you will find the material ‘tubes’ up again – a bit like this that we did with a single strip:

Intrigued? Why not take a look at the shop for more on the Strip-T necklace, which is simple and as cheap as a large bag of chips. Should you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a line at info@nakedbison.com

Finally, many thanks to Ian for agreeing to demonstrate his hand action so splendidly!

Having written about just about everything else, it was only a matter of time before Naked Bison got its own blog too! And it makes sense. So here we are, post number one and a very logical topic: where did it all start?

There are probably two starting points:

First point is where my penchant for making stuff started – in particular making stuff to wear. From a very early age I have been nauseatingly specific about what I wear; this is mostly nauseating for others (ask my Mum), but sometimes it is for me too, especially when I haven’t been able to get exactly what I want from the shops.

It would also be fair to say that I’m not a very patient person and have thus never been one to window shop until I find something that at least resembles what I have in mind. As you can probably imagine then, the idea of browsing until finding something I like fills me with dread and horror. Nope, when I go shopping, it is with a particular item in mind. And it has to be that item. In a specific colour too. I guess for some that would lead to a very frustrating shopping trip (fear not, I always shop alone), but for me it generally ends up with the resignation that I’ll just have to make it myself.

Actually I don’t mind. I quite like making things myself. It is incredibly satisfying but not nearly as satisfying as someone else saying to you ‘I love your bag/jumper/skirt, where did you get that?’ and being able to reply that it’s one of your own creations …

The second starting point would be my loathing of waste. We throw so much away unnecessarily, I could rant for hours on the subject. Maybe some other time. My short answer would be to get creative, particularly with fabric. Frankly, unless it’s turning to dust, all fabric is still usable – it’s pretty durable stuff.

Now I know sometimes people can get snobbish about second hand clothes and I can relate to that – as a child jumble sale clothing was often all we had and I hated it. But it did challenge me to be more creative, to take old stuff and make new stuff with it. In the end it became something I really enjoyed. So I would urge anyone to try it.

So that’s how Naked Bison came about. As an eco-fashion business it also made sense to make it part of the Bonsai Bison herd**. After all, way back when, bison provided the Native Americans with clothes and shelter as well as food. The Native Americans made sure nothing went to waste. Inspiring!

I believe nothing should go to waste either. Easy! The only ‘new’ things that go into Naked Bison products are the ideas and the cotton used to sew them up. Right now I’m working through both my own off-cuts and things people have given me. It’s a great way to de-clutter but at the same time, it’s also a great way to keep things you can’t bear to part with but which are never going to be worn again. That’s one of the services Naked Bison is offering too – if there’s a product style you like and you have a long-loved item you’d like to ‘re-make’, I’ll happily do that for you or show you how to do it yourself. Otherwise you can order off-the-shelf products or have something custom made.

**Naked Bison is part of the Bonsai Bison herd, where ‘little people with big ideas can change the world’. In purchasing a Naked Bison product, you are contributing something that will make those changes happen a little faster. Go to http://www.bonsaibison.com to find out more.

So we’re a few days into International No Pulling Week and I’m going to try something practical rather than simply telling my story. It would however be rude not to begin with an update on my own progress:

I can honestly say that I have not pulled a hair from my head since my #newhairday nearly 6 weeks ago. I have even resisted the urge to pull from anywhere else, although I do exclude the tidying up of my eyebrows from this! Bizarrely this still makes me feel a bit of a cheat (see previous post) because I seem to be getting away with this all very lightly compared to some. But relatively I guess having battled with this for so long, it’s about time I got some sort of break!

I know I haven’t pulled and can say it with conviction this time as I have been keeping a ‘pull diary’. This pull free time could be the result of one or two things. It could be the simple act of keeping a diary, which forces me to admit each time my hand reaches for my hair – it may reach and it may twiddle and play but actually pulling requires an admission. For me that would be an unbearable admission of failure that I’m just not up for at the moment.

It could also be that since I had the Intralace system applied I have found a new level of confidence. I genuinely feel liberated, which is an odd feeling to describe in this context and jars against the discomfort I feel placing such importance on how I look (as opposed to what kind of person I am). What’s worse (or better, whichever way you look at it) this time it is real confidence and not the kind I have become really good at faking all these years – and I had got really good at that! In turn, this could also have something to do with the fact that I have lost an inordinate amount of weight these last few months as well (going from a UK size 16 to 8 – result!), which has also lifted the spirits somewhat. I’m probably sounding a bit smug for sure, but again, my weight was another battle and another story. However, it is very probably linked and thus leads me to think whether I can offer some practical steps to those who are still battling with TTM, particularly this week. No real research other than personal experience has gone into this advice, but as someone who has battled with this for over 30 years, the experience I can offer is as good as anyone’s, so here goes:

Is this behaviour making you feel bad? Then you have a problem. Promise yourself you’re going to do something about it. Make the decision to free yourself from TTM.

Ignore all the people who say ‘don’t do that, you’ll go bald!’ – they will just make you feel worse about yourself however much they mean well.

It is that (above) and similar phrases that actually hold you back – substitute these negative ‘I must not’ phrases with more positive ‘I want to be free of TTM’ ones instead.

Stop judging yourself so harshly. This is just a behavioural trait that has simply got out of control, you are strong enough to regain that control.

Start a diary – note down all the times you pull out a hair, how many you pull and how long the attack lasts. How did you feel before you pulled your hair out and how did you feel afterwards? Be honest because lying to yourself will not help you.

In the same diary, note down all the times you feel like pulling your hair even if you don’t actually do it. Why do you think you went to pull your hair out – how were you feeling? Also note what made you stop. Then ask yourself whether you went on feeling as you did before or whether you found something else to distract you. It might be neither of those but something did make you stop – is it feasible to refer to that again?

Is there something specific about your hair that makes you want to pull it out? This is one of the first steps to helping you identify your triggers in addition to the feelings you noted down above. For example, everyone in my immediate family has lot of thick, big hair – it was always a thing. I don’t think the fact that I ‘attacked’ my hair was in any way coincidental – seek the meaning and you will better be able to change the behaviour.

So, what meaning do you attach the action of pulling your hair out? At first glance this looks like the same question as above but it is slightly different in that it asks you to look at the action itself and how it makes you feel rather than how you feel about your hair. You will have to dig deep for this and it may not make a whole lot of sense right now and therefore take time. Stay strong and it will all come together eventually.

Know what the triggers are? Well if you have got this far then you know what it is you have to do. I read something recently (and sadly forget where) about loss, about how loss leaves a hole that will never be filled. You have two choices, you can spend the rest of your life re-acting to the fact that you can’t find a way to fill it or you can simply learn to accept that your life will be different from the point of that loss and deal with living with that hole. That’s what you have to do. Don’t fight it, accept it.

I can’t deny it’s hard. I think about pulling my hair out every day, several times a day. I just have to keep reminding myself of how much I want to be free of this. TTM will always be there, just like that hole, but its shackles become a little looser every day.

This post will not bring about world peace. I thought it would be best to just clear that up at the beginning! The aim of this particular post is to give you a few tips for dealing with those day to day professional conflicts that are perhaps better called disagreements. It works for those personal gripes too…

As a manager you will know disagreements can occur daily. There is no way to avoid them. You may have had to make a difficult decision and are the source of some criticism; one of your team might not quite be up to par; or you may have to act as the impartial party in a dispute between colleagues. These conflicts are what will make or break you as a manager, because how you deal with them will determine how your people skills are judged. The most effective way of mitigating the number of disagreements is either to put together a team of non-challengers or to never make any bold decisions. Neither of these options is any good for business.

As an employee you will also come up against disagreements for all the same reasons as above. Sometimes that will be a disagreement with your boss and you may worry that challenging them might jeopardise your job. You may also find yourself up against criticism. You won’t be able to avoid that however good you are are your job. Nobody is perfect. But you can make a challenge an advantage.

Whatever your situation, you can always ensure a disagreement does not become a conflict and instead something more positive, if you approach it with the following pre-conditions:

• Your attitude matters: if you approach a situation believing it will go a particular way then in all likelihood it will; it is what we believe about a situation that determines how we feel about it and therefore how we respond to it, it is not the situation itself. Think about it, if you get up feeling like the day is going to be a pants one, it often is – do the opposite and a good day will generally follow.

• You are in control of your emotions: people generally fly off the handle because something has triggered something buried deep inside them. They may not be responsible for the external trigger but they are certainly responsible for how they deal with it. In all likelihood it is about the meaning they attach to a situation. For example, someone may associate criticism, however tiny, to the way they were treated as a child, and that may not be wholly positive, so they re-act accordingly. The key word there is “re-act”; by changing the meaning we associate with things, something only we ourselves can do, then you can turn a re-action into a more positive action instead.

• Accept yourself and others unconditionally – this sounds obvious but is actually quite hard to do because people very often pre-judge both themselves and others by their behaviour and actions. No matter how reformed a criminal may be, people will likely judge them for that crime for a long, long time. So maybe that is an extreme example, but here is a really simple one: every year, Santa asks children if they have been good children, implying that if they weren’t, they won’t get any presents. Seriously, does anyone believe children are not good? Maybe their behaviour and actions have been a little mischievous sometimes, but that doesn’t appear to be what Santa is judging when he asks the question. Do the same for yourself: how often do you chastise yourself for having that piece of cake or not going for that run? You think you are bad for eating more than you should and not taking the appropriate exercise. No wonder, when Santa has been asking whether we have been good all these years! But if you disagree with your friends or partner, you don’t think they are a bad person do you? Exactly, so, if we separate our actions from our being then we can focus on the actual problem and solve it rather than wallow in a little too much unhealthy self-focussing.

• Be assertive in your approach: if you appear confident and believe what you are saying, the majority will follow. Assertive does not mean aggressive; banging fists and shouting will not get you heard, but self-confidence and a calm countenance will.

So you have approached a challenging situation with all the above pre-conditions, but being the only party who has, it looks like it might escalate. What next? Here are some tips to remember:

• Think before you speak. Again it is an obvious one, so why do we find it so hard to do? The side of your brain that deals with emotion kicks in first, i.e. before the logical side. It is dealing with your instinct, so it has to kick in first to get you out of that burning building or away from that sabre-tooth tiger looking for its tea. Disputes in the office need the logical side of your brain so give it time to catch up. Pause, breathe and avoid responding on impulse. And take it from one who knows – hold back on the sarcasm!

• If like me you are incredibly impulsive and you need a bit more than a moment to rein in your instinctive need to defend yourself, here’s a trick: ask for clarification. A lot of the time, people generalise – they just want to off-load. Allow them to do that by giving them the space to do it (i.e. by keeping quiet) and it will give you time to think. If you then ask them to be specific then chances are they will realise that they are just having a moan, in which case that is all they want to do. However, if they are able to clarify then you have more time to deal with that particular gripe and find a solution.

• And that gripe may be valid. Remember what was said above – it is an action that is being criticised not your being, so it is action that is needed not re-action. If the gripe is valid and you find yourself in the wrong, then take it on the nose and decide whether you need to take any action to rectify the situation. You don’t have to grovel but a dignified response will earn respect. If the gripe is false, then let the other person have the right to be wrong – you can explain, calmly why you think their gripe is false, but sometimes you just have to agree to disagree.

• If you keep the focus on the problem and not the people then it is highly likely you’ll be able to find a solution. You are then out of the potential conflict zone and into a problem-solving situation. If that is not possible as emotions are too high (you might be able to put these tips into action, but that doesn’t mean everyone has read this!), suggest some time away to cool down, but propose you reconvene to find a solution – ensure you show that you are willing to reach a win-win situation.

Finally, if you find that you are the one having to dish out the criticism, remember these simple things:

• It is the action / behaviour / performance that you are judging, not the person, so don’t let it get personal;
• Be specific – don’t generalise as it weakens your argument;
• Don’t dwell on the past – you should have dealt with it then. If it is a series of similar mistakes then make that clear and make it clear why you are first approaching someone with it now; if you don’t, it looks like a grudge;
• Remember your body language and tone: this will convey way more than the words themselves;
• Acknowledge and respect the alternative view even if you don’t agree with it;
• See it as the start of the change process, don’t see it as an end point – if you do, you will not solve anything.

I am more than aware that in reality, all the above can fly out of the window in a split second of impulsive feisty-ness! It will depend on who you are dealing with and how sensitive/vulnerable you are feeling yourself. But if you can remember to at least keep some of the above in check, you will find challenges constructive and positive to your business and your own self-development.

I must admit I thought the likelihood of getting an appointment so early was fairly remote, not that I had any grounds for that assumption, but I was nevertheless caught somewhat off guard by how quickly I would have to deal with the prospect of having a full head of hair again. It may sound strange, but when you have spent three quarters of your life worried about revealing your bald spots to the world, should what hair you do have move out of place, the prospect of that changing, even if it is for the better, is a little daunting. If anyone reading this is an addict or has any kind of impulse control disorder, you will know what I’m talking about.

The emotional triggers that set off my pulling in the beginning have more or less been dealt with, but knowing that ‘new hair day’ was coming up I started thinking about things and therefore reaching for my hair a bit more often than usual – well that’s how it seems, it could just be that I have been more aware of it lately, I can’t say for sure. Where you can be aware of what sets you off and do your best to deal with those circumstances in another way, what is really hard to control is the impulse – I don’t want to pull but am somehow compelled to. There are certain circumstances in life that simply can’t be controlled or avoided and you just have to find another strategy for dealing with that impulse to pull. Over the last few weeks I have simply reached for the tweezers and pulled body hair out in the worst case scenario (hey, my legs are shaved anyway, what harm can pulling the hair do?). In the few days running up to ‘new hair day’ though, I managed to find a new level of positivity which lessened the impulse (my legs aren’t that long either!). That sounds a bit trite but a really easy trick I learnt in a phase of serious darkness really helps me: I write a list of all the things I am grateful for and then a list of all the things I want from life. Once I’ve got past winning the lottery, it’s amazing how much is still achievable!

The week since I sat in that hairdresser’s chair and saw a five year old me looking back at me from the mirror has not been as easy and I have to force myself to go back to that list occasionally, but I am proud to say that I have resisted the urge to pull when it has surfaced, which has occurred less often than usual. Why I pull is less relevant now than the fact that I do still feel compelled to do it. But I do feel like a bit of a cheat all the same, as I am clearly better off than some. It is worth saying that Lucinda deals with women who have lost hair for all sorts of reasons and not just TTM. The fact that TTM is self-inflicted is one of the things that makes me feel like a bit of a fraud – that guilt feeling is not unusual apparently. At the same time, there are women who have much less hair than I do, much less, so there were moments during my first appointment when I felt uncomfortable. Ironically it was my vanity that stopped me ever pulling from the front, so I still have my hairline; it also enabled me to grow my hair to silly lengths so covering up was not an issue – I have a lot to play with. That said, wearing it down is tricky without clipping the front back; here’s why (*deep breath):

This is not the worst it’s ever been but it has also been better (e.g. when it wasn’t so grey!!). It did take a number of years of pulling before it became really noticeable. For example, most of the way through my teens I had a number of short, medium, long, curly, straight, spikey hair-cuts (it was the 80s!) and all I had missing was a little tiny clump about an inch back from the centre of my front hair line and what looked like a dodgy crown. As the pulling got worse, particularly in my late teens and early twenties, the area spread and I had to grow my hair to cover it up. In recent years the pulling has decreased significantly, but I am nevertheless quite sceptical that any of this will ever grow back. But we’ll see – if I don’t try now then I will never know. At the moment this bald patch is under mesh (the ‘Intralace system’) through which my own hair has been pulled to basically hold it in place. Added to that are additional lengths of hair (not mine, still coming to terms with that!), which are there to replace what should be there. The idea is that underneath all this ‘fakery’, my own hair should eventually grow back – or it will at least have been given a chance. In case of mild TTM that should normally only take a few months, in mine it will probably take longer as the site has been aggravated for over thirty years.

There were moments last Friday (I know, it has taken me a week to cobble this together!) when I felt like I could do anything! By ‘anything’ I mean go wild style, add coloured panels of hair for example or just keep adding until I had more hair than all of Motley Crue put together! The same thought went through my mind when I went back earlier this week for my wash and maintenance appointment (part of the original application is to take you through how to maintain the system after a couple of days, so it continues to look luscious and natural!). But I am not brave enough to change style just yet; besides, I could do with some time to enjoy actually having what I’ve been kidding everyone I have for so long!

See – I don’t really look any different, you’d never know and for so long, that was the idea. But me now, inside, I feel free; it’s wonderful!